Shilpa Kumar will replace Bagchi as MD and CEO of ICICI Securities. Shilpa will be succeeded by B Prasanna as Group Executive and Head of Markets and Proprietary Trading at ICICI Bank, as per the decisions taken by its board here today.
With the Reserve Bank of India keeping the key policy rate unchanged at 6.50 percent, Arun Tiwari, Chairman and Managing Director, Union Bank of India; and Shilpa Kumar, Group Executive, ICICI Bank shared their views with CNBC-TV18 on the RBI monetary policy.
"Indeed, one can possible say, with a rate cut in September, you could see a movement slightly down at around 7.50-7.60% (2025 yield) in the near-term," says Shilpa Kumar of ICICI Bank.
Experts believe the central bank will pause for a while now before one can see any rate cut in the near-future.
In its sixth bi-monthly Monetary Policy review, the Reserve Bank of India kept policy rates unchanged after going ahead with a 25-bps cut just three weeks ago, suggesting government‘s annual budget at the end of this month may hold the key to future action.
The RBI's decision to permit banks to sell 7-year bonds on which they don‘t have to keep reserves could well create a new and robust market for them.
For the micro picture to continue, the rupee price will have to continue to support exports. Shilpa Kumar, Senior General Manager – ICICI Bank is betting on the rupee staying at around 60-61 in the short to medium term.
Shilpa Kumar, senior general manager, ICICI Bank is also of the view that the worst of inflation is behind us and she sees CPI and WPI easing.
Sonal Varma, Chief Economist at Nomura India, is expecting a 25 bps repo rate hike on October 29, followed by another 25 bps hike. She further expects the RBI to cut its growth forecast from 5.5 percent to 5 percent.
The Finance Minister has broadly delivered on his commitment of a budget that adheres to a path of fiscal consolidation while simultaneously attempting to support medium term growth pillars as were emphasised in the Economic Survey, with focus on agriculture, social development, infrastructure and investments.
Shilpa Kumar, head of treasury at ICICI Bank sees the Indian currency in 50-52 in the short-term.
Over the last decade IT and ITeS have been the crown jewel in India’s exports accounting for over 5% of India’s GDP. With optimistic estimates of these exports, they are passing USD 175 billion by 2020.